I keep my blog as a personal record of what I'm up to, which might be seen as working towards "An elegant sufficiency, content, retirement, rural quiet, friendship, books, ease and alternate labour, useful life". I'm certainly not there yet. There is quite some way to go!

May 11

May 11 Home from the North

We've just got back from a lovely weekend up in Yorkshire, where "home" was The Pheasant, in Harome, near Helmsley.

We'd had the idea to stay at The Star, so we could sample the delights of Andrew Pern's cooking but though we secured a dinner reservation, all accommodation was fully booked. Our timing was spot on, however, for the Perns had just taken over The Pheasant Hotel, just along the way in Harome. The refurbishment was underway and so we reserved our room trusting all would be complete by the time we arrived. As a result, not only did we get to enjoy dinner at The Star, there was the added bonus of an altogether different (but equally exciting) dining experience at The Pheasant. Wow. Are we going to have to watch those calories this week to make up for it!

We spent Saturday in Whitby, where we pottered about, peered into jewellers windows surveying the jet and generally enjoyed the fresh air.

I love this coast, especially on a day like this, when the tide is out and hardly a soul is brave enough to wander onto the sand. After a walk around the Abbey ruins, we drove on to Robin Hoods Bay and then to Ravenscar taking the opportunity to walk up and down all those steps to build up an appetite!

Yesterday, Sunday, we walked the first part of the Cleveland Way, from Helmsley to Rievaulx Abbey. We were lucky with the weather and stayed dry into the afternoon, when we drove on to Mount Grace Priory, though once or twice, the clouds looked threateningly dark.